Klemiga is a product of a breeding program that had the objective of developing well-shaped, orderly filled, double or semi-double orange flowers with dark foliage. Klemiga originated from an unidentified pollen parent and an unidentified seed parent. Seed was not collected as random. Crosses were made between groups of parent plants with dark pink or neon pink flowers and others with dark leaves. Seeds were collected from these crosses without identifying the parent plant. One of these seeds produced a new cultivar with dark pink flowers, medium green foliage and a robust and hairy appearance. Unexpectedly, the new cultivar had dark pink flowers, medium green foliage, and a robust and hairy appearance. Neither parent has been released to the public nor been commercialized.
The new cultivar was discovered in 1991 in Stuttgart, Germany and selected by the inventor as one flowering plant from among the progeny of an unidentified seed parent and an unidentified pollen parent in a controlled environment. The new seedling was obtained after cultivation of the seed parent with the pollen parent. Klemiga differed from either parent in having a dark pink color in contrast to the orange or salmon color of the parent plants.
Compared with its parents, Klemigas has pink flowers and medium green foliage in contrast to the orange and dark-leaved foliage of the parents. Klemiga requires 23 days to root after cuttings. Precocity is judged to be early to medium.
The first act of asexual reproduction of Klemiga was accomplished when vegetative cuttings were taken from the initial selection in a controlled environment in greenhouses in Stuttgart, Germany by the inventor or technicians working under the supervision of the inventor. Horticultural examination of selected plants demonstrated that the combination of characteristics herein disclosed for Klemiga are firmly fixed and are retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction.
Klemiga has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary significantly with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity, and daylength. The following observations, measurements, and comparisions described plants grown in Stuttgart, Germany under conditions that approximate those used in commercial pratice. Similar characteristics are found when the plant is grown under controlled environmental conditions in Italy, Germany Teneriffe, and the Netherlands.
Compared to other geranium varieties, Klemiga appears to be unique because of flower color, a flower shape similar to the camellia and the overall combination of flower shape and hairy, grayish-green appearance of the foliage.
Klemiga most closely resembles Klefa. Klefa is too early and too floriferous to have high market value because of its short branches and failure to produce enough leaves to provide a desirable appearance. Klefa is more floriferous than Klemiga, but the regular compact growth of Klemiga and the filling of the flower combines to give it a very desirable appearance. The weather resistance of Klemiga's flowers and foliage is excellent. The new cultivar also maintains continuity in flowering and is suitable for growth in most climates. It is more floriferous in hot climates, but plants tend to be shorter when the climate is consistently too hot. The flower color of Klemiga is new, bright, and highly attractive. Flower filling and flower form are particularly unique features. While the umbel size and shape may not be unusual, the coarse tomentum of the foliage and the brightly multicolored flower parts of this plant offer a starkly attractive and interesting contrast which is believed to have not been previously reported in the species.